Ackermann hails returning Springboks after Bulls thrash Lions
REACTION: Bulls coach Johan Ackermann praised his returning Springbok stars, who helped inspire his side to a 57-15 victory over the Lions in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Bulls were clinical across the park, dominating the Lions in a contest that was largely one-sided.
Ackermann’s troops outscored the Lions by nine tries to two, and five of those were scored in the first half as the Bulls raced to a handy 31-10 lead.
The hosts continued to pile on the pressure after the break, with tries by Canan Moodie, JF van Heerden, Cheswill Jooste and Sebastian de Klerk putting the result beyond reach.
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In his assessment of the match, Ackermann said he was pleased by the fight shown by his side.
“I’m just proud of the guys,” he told reporters.
“We knew we had to be at our best to beat a side that’s in form. The focus was on making sure we start well, and we have our set piece sorted out.
“Credit to the players, the mental strength and maturity they showed out there to start well and stay in the fight even though things didn’t go our way. We lost a few balls where we had opportunities, but we just stayed on the task.”
Springbok stars step up
Five of the Bulls’ nine tries were scored by returning Springboks.
Man of the match Cameron Hanekom and hooker Johan Grobbelaar both scored braces, while Moodie also crossed the whitewash.
Ackermann was thrilled with how his national players stepped up after just having a week to get up to speed with how the team wanted to play.
“I’m very pleased [with how they gelled]. It shows the character and the quality of the players to buy into what we want to do.
“The coaches put a lot of effort into sending them stuff on Monday, and then on Tuesday they had meetings with them separately to bring them up to speed.
“They learned everything quickly, and on Wednesday we had a day off, and on Thursday we trained. It wasn’t perfect; there were mistakes, but you could see that they were buying into what we wanted to do, and quickly settled in.”
Ackermann was equally impressed by his replacements, who helped see out the game in the final 20 minutes.
“I think there are so many tries where there were players involved that created something, and then the Boks showed their class as well.
“It’s good that those guys contributed, but what pleased me as well was the bench. The guys came on and made a difference, and kept the pressure on the Lions.”
Cameron Hanekom: A quality player
When asked about Hanekom’s impact on the game, Ackermann refused to give all the praise to the youngster.
Instead, he pointed to the work done by those around him, which gave Hanekom the platform to play to his strengths.
“Every player has got his strengths, and Cameron has shown his strengths that stood out in some of the phases today.
“But again, you must look at how the opportunities were created; there are a lot of players involved in that.
“He hasn’t played with us for a long time, and he came in and slotted in nicely. I’m just proud of his effort; he’s a quality player.”
Key improvements from Munster defeat
For captain Hanro Liebenberg, it was important for the side to improve and bounce back from their 22-26 loss against Munster last week.
The skipper admitted his side took time to settle into the game but stressed the importance of making their opportunities count once they found their rhythm.
“The first 10 to 15 minutes were a bit nervy,” he shared.
“I think the boys found their feet, and after we found our feet, we had a few opportunities even in the first half which we didn’t capitalise on.
“As soon as we got our opportunities again, we took them better; that was the main work on for us from the Munster game. We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game.”
